South Carolina Researchers Unveil Hurricane Model Named HUGO

As hurricane season approaches its peak, researchers at Coastal Carolina University are unveiling a new hurricane model.

Scientists say the model unveiled Thursday – called Hurricane Genesis and Outlook, or HUGO for short – should reduce the so-called cone of uncertainty providing better predictions of where hurricanes will hit and a better estimate of storm surge.

They hope the model will one day be used by the National Hurricane Center to predict hurricanes. But that’s a process that can take years.

The Hurricane Center’s chief of forecast operations James Franklin says models have to be tested extensively, both in seeing if they can accurately track historical storms and forecast current hurricane threats.

The model is named for Hurricane Hugo, the Category 4 storm that smashed into South Carolina in 1989.